Page 12 | What was normal in your workplace in the noughties that would be outrageous now

Shhhhivegotasecret · 2023-12-02T19:32:44+00:00

My example - all the men going off to continue business meeting at a Stringfellows leaving all the women behind…. Would be the stuff of tribunals nowadays, back then it was 🤷♀️

jesterdourt · 02/12/2023 23:18

If you are in England, the smoking ban in the workplace was not enacted until 1st July 2007.

But it’s not the case that on the 30th June 2007 everyone was smoking at their desks. The ban was also for restaurants, clubs etc & public support was fairly high otherwise it wouldn’t have been so successful. I think about 20% of the population smoked then.

Ocani · 02/12/2023 23:19

tenbob · 02/12/2023 23:15

Give or take, that’s what our receptionists are on, which I often daydream about being my perfect job.

No responsibility other than being on time and fairly well presented, and absolutely no work to think about once you’ve left for the day

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I'm sorry but I don't believe you.

tenbob · 02/12/2023 23:21

Crushed23 · 02/12/2023 23:17

Your receptionists earn £47k? That’s really impressive.

Ours are on ~£30k (in London).

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More like £40k plus very generous perks and a bonus
But best of all, no work phone and I presume no Teams app either

And they get first dips on leftover meeting sandwiches and cakes

Lolaandbehold · 02/12/2023 23:21

Having my ass slapped by at least two blokes every time I walked across the floor. Going to Stringfellows with the lads and having a (nude!) dance bought for me (several occasions).
Get the grads to get the breakfast order. 40 sausage sandwiches with varying condiments. The thought was that if you couldn’t get a breakfast order right, how could you be trusted with a multi million order.
One of the guys dealt coke from the desk. Discretely-ish. He’d come up to me and give me a shoulder massage as he was talking orders from the folks on my desk.
COO (50s) shagging every 20 something grad that joined.
Out with clients a minimum of 2 nights a week at some top restaurant followed by a table at the latest club. Home at 2, up at 5 for work. Often still hammered. The clients would then throw you a few multi million dollar orders next day as a thank you. (Because hey, fuck best execution).
This was finance, pre 2008. It’s very different now.

in spite of it all, I had an absolute blast.

tenbob · 02/12/2023 23:22

Ocani · 02/12/2023 23:19

I'm sorry but I don't believe you.

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You don’t believe that I daydream about being a receptionist, or that they are expected to turn up to work on time..?

jesterdourt · 02/12/2023 23:23

@Ocani You’re right, the most outrageous thing about work is how much more you have to do for less pay!

CJsGoldfish · 02/12/2023 23:23

I am going to get told off for this but- despite the sexism etc life was just more fun back then
I had a LOT of fun working back then. Champagne breakfasts at Christmas before work. Pub for lunch every Friday and straight back after work.
Oh, and we didn't just have ashtrays on our desk, we had company branded ashtrays lol. And were customer facing 😮

So while looking back it seems so carefree and fun, I still to this day have moments that pop up and bother me. Things that didn't at the time because it was so normal. The blatant sexual harassment, many times by men far more senior. As a 16yr old in an office, I actually had a male colleague, older and more senior but someone who we all laughed and joked with, reach out and fondle my breast. I still remember that very, very clearly. I did not know how to react, just stepped back and he left. But it was as if it never happened. The 'banter' just continued. I may have been seen as someone who could 'give back' as good as I got. I wasn't though, I was a junior and felt I had to go along with it because everyone else did and it was just 'normal workplace stuff'

There were far too many insidious behaviours that were just wrong that I'm glad are not acceptable anymore.

Zebedee999 · 02/12/2023 23:24

Lolaandbehold · 02/12/2023 23:21

Having my ass slapped by at least two blokes every time I walked across the floor. Going to Stringfellows with the lads and having a (nude!) dance bought for me (several occasions).
Get the grads to get the breakfast order. 40 sausage sandwiches with varying condiments. The thought was that if you couldn’t get a breakfast order right, how could you be trusted with a multi million order.
One of the guys dealt coke from the desk. Discretely-ish. He’d come up to me and give me a shoulder massage as he was talking orders from the folks on my desk.
COO (50s) shagging every 20 something grad that joined.
Out with clients a minimum of 2 nights a week at some top restaurant followed by a table at the latest club. Home at 2, up at 5 for work. Often still hammered. The clients would then throw you a few multi million dollar orders next day as a thank you. (Because hey, fuck best execution).
This was finance, pre 2008. It’s very different now.

in spite of it all, I had an absolute blast.

That is practically the plot from the Netflix series "Industry".

jesterdourt · 02/12/2023 23:25

More like £40k plus very generous perks and a bonus

not the average salary for a receptionist though.

I earned a good wage in my Saturday retail job in the late 90s. My basic was about £6 an hr & then a few pound an hr in commission.

tenbob · 02/12/2023 23:28

Zebedee999 · 02/12/2023 23:24

That is practically the plot from the Netflix series "Industry".

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That’s because Industry was written by two guys who worked in a sales trading role in the noughties, so based it on what they knew.

The boss with the baseball bat is based on one of my former colleagues!

Shesgettingmarriedinthemornin · 02/12/2023 23:28

Paddington98 · 02/12/2023 20:10

Gosh realising my industry must be an outlier - some of these still happen! People regularly go to the pub at lunchtime and drinks are opened at desks last thing on a Friday. Lots of hungover people in the office too although I noticed a big difference in that when I moved to London vs working in Manchester and Leeds where if didn’t really happen (people drove to work more and “after work” culture wasn’t so much of a thing)

TV?

Pussygaloregalapagos · 02/12/2023 23:29

Photocopying tits n arse.

tenbob · 02/12/2023 23:31

jesterdourt · 02/12/2023 23:25

More like £40k plus very generous perks and a bonus

not the average salary for a receptionist though.

I earned a good wage in my Saturday retail job in the late 90s. My basic was about £6 an hr & then a few pound an hr in commission.

Where did I say it was the average salary?!

PP said she would love to have a low stress admin role similar to what she had in 2001 but paying a £40k-ish salary

All I said was those roles do exist!

Teriyakieverything · 02/12/2023 23:31

I have not read full thread, but some of the things bring back memories of good old times in the office of the 90s and noughties.

if it’s not been mentioned already, office romances. That’s how I met my husband after all.

aAlso, people don’t seem to have photos of their children displayed at their desks anymore, not sure why given everyone posts so much of their life’s on SM.

Ocani · 02/12/2023 23:32

@tenbob I don't believe that receptionists earn £47k. The average wage in the UK is £35k and that average is calculated using earnings data from everyone including niche highly regulated jobs like barristers, brokers and doctors. Receptionists in general do not earn £12k more than the average wage.

CornishGem1975 · 02/12/2023 23:33

Teeheehee1579 · 02/12/2023 19:37

I miss the pub at lunchtimes. Every Friday without fail we would all go. Happy times!

Yes! We had such a great time.

CornishGem1975 · 02/12/2023 23:35

aAlso, people don’t seem to have photos of their children displayed at their desks anymore, not sure why given everyone posts so much of their life’s on Social media

I imagine @Teriyakieverything just because of the accessibility now. If you want to look at your kids, they're on your phone but a photo on the desk was the only way at that time.

ANightingale · 02/12/2023 23:37

CornishGem1975 · 02/12/2023 23:35

aAlso, people don’t seem to have photos of their children displayed at their desks anymore, not sure why given everyone posts so much of their life’s on Social media

I imagine @Teriyakieverything just because of the accessibility now. If you want to look at your kids, they're on your phone but a photo on the desk was the only way at that time.

Also, much more hot-desking and shared desks nowadays.

Ellmau · 02/12/2023 23:37

Writing letters and other work by hand, and getting the clerical staff to type them up. The rest of us didn't have computers until c.2003-4.

snurtifier · 02/12/2023 23:38

When I started going to trade shows in the late 90s / early 2000s loads of the stands would have 'booth babes' -- attractive young women hired to stand around in skimpy clothing handing out leaflets to the invariably male attendees at the show.

tenbob · 02/12/2023 23:40

Ocani · 02/12/2023 23:32

@tenbob I don't believe that receptionists earn £47k. The average wage in the UK is £35k and that average is calculated using earnings data from everyone including niche highly regulated jobs like barristers, brokers and doctors. Receptionists in general do not earn £12k more than the average wage.

Okkkkk then

You sound a bit hard of thinking if you can’t comprehend that some companies might pay above average pay to get an above average person

But here you go as the first example of Indeed, filtering for receptionist jobs paying more than £40k

Mind. Blown.

https://uk.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=dc0984321d3c36c1&from=serp&xpse=SoBY67I3HWUgMdwFoR0LbzkdCdPP

jesterdourt · 02/12/2023 23:40

PP said she would love to have a low stress admin role similar to what she had in 2001 but paying a £40k-ish salary

All I said was those roles do exist!

No one said they didn’t just that the majority of reception jobs aren’t paying 40k & low stress. In the same vein you can earn 2m as a partner in a MC law firm but many people working in law won’t earn anything like that.

Ocani · 02/12/2023 23:41

ANightingale · 02/12/2023 23:37

Also, much more hot-desking and shared desks nowadays.

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Urgh, I loathe hot desking. Carting everything around like a secondary school pupil and spending the start of every working day setting up my screens/headset etc.

ChilledToTheBone · 02/12/2023 23:41

Getting very tipsy at spoons with all the management daily at lunchtime

Teriyakieverything · 02/12/2023 23:42

Omg, I remember the pre email days, I used to hand write Inter Office Correspondences on carbon copy paper for distribution to multiple recipients, hence where the ‘cc’ in email distribution comes from.

Do people even now know that’s what cc means?